We began making the plans as soon as I got back from my Christmas holiday in Holland. It is now the middle of May and we are still finishing the final details. We will be married in my Mom's house in Niceville, Florida. Just a simple, small wedding. No frills, no foo-foos, and NO wedding dress! If all goes well, then we will have a web-cam on during it, so that our friends online can watch. If not, then we will video tape it and install that onto a website so people can watch that way.
We were going to wait until we got final approval for Marco's visa before getting married. But, there were too many people that would have to make travel arrangements to be with us, so we could not wait until then. Marco's sister & brother-in-law (Conny & Jan), brother (John), best friend & his gf & her 8-year old daughter (Peter & Wilma & Joni) will all be flying into America to attend our wedding. Then from here, my family & a few friends will be flying into Florida to attend as well.
We needed to find some kind of accomodations for everyone that was attending. So, after a lot of discussions we chose to rent a beach-house for a week. This way, we could all stay together in one place and it would be much nicer than going to a hotel. There, that was the easy part .... now came the hard part .... choosing which house to rent. There are approximately 45,872 different types of accomodations in the Destin, FL area. I believe I looked at every single one!!!!! hahaha I kept Marco up to date on everything, and would send him links & information about the houses so he could tell me if he liked them or not. After about 3 solid weeks worth of research, the choice was narrowed down to 4. I called the rental agencies, and made arrangements for my Mom & UncleDad to go see the houses in person.
The one we chose, is actually not even finished being built yet! But, the owners of this house own another house a few doors down, so we were able to get the basic idea of what it would be like inside. I think it will work out wonderful! It is a 3-level house that has 6 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, a private heated pool, kitchen, living rooms, laundry room, pool table, high chair/play pen/crib for Nienke, 2 jacuzzi's, decks on every level, and every single sofa opens up into a bed. All together it will sleep approximately 17 people. Sounds wonderful doesn't it?!?! Well, that is what we thought too. So, I filled out the applications, sent in the deposit money, and reserved it for a full week. It wasn't until I received the final paperwork that I read about the No-Smoking policy. Shit shit shit - Marco had given me a list of requirements that the house must have while I was trying to find one: it must be close to my mom's house, it must allow smoking, it must be on the beach, and it must have a hot-tub. Well, this house is about 10 minutes from my mom's house. It is directly across from the beach, about 100 yards to the sand. If we were directly on the sand, the price of the rent would immediately go up at least $1000 pr week. But he was fine with that. It did not have a hot tub - but - it has 2 double-jacuzzis, one of which will be in our bedroom. So again, he was fine with that. However, when I told him that we were not allowed to smoke in the house, he wasn't so pleased! hahaha But screw it, we can go outside and smoke on the deck. Because there is no way I am starting our search all over again for a new house!
We decided that since everyone else was paying to fly to Florida for this wedding, that it would be nice if we paid for the entire house on our own. However, we will need to rent a large SUV (like a Ford Expedition) for the week - and everyone will have to help pay for that. I think that is more than fair though =)
As it stands now, Marco will fly into St. Louis a month prior to the wedding. This way we can finish any last minute planning that must be done. We want to be able to spend a few days alone with Mom & UncleDad, so we will fly to Florida a few days before everyone else arrives. Everyone else will arrive on Saturday 11/09, the same day we begin renting the house. This will give everyone a few days to get over thier jet-lag and get acquainted with everyone else before the actual wedding takes place. Peter, Wilma, Joni, and John will fly home on the following Saturday. Conny & Jan will stay until the following Tuesday. They are going to drive to New Orleans for a few days before leaving for home. I have to get back to work but hopefully Marco will go with them and have some private time before saying his final goodbye. I think it will be better that way.
So, I guess that is about all. After a lot of work and planning, it is all starting to come together. Now all we have to do is last another 6 months being apart .... I think we can do it =) |
